WWE WrestleMania 30: Winners Who Will Fall Short at Extreme Rules

All good things must come to an end. And at Extreme Rules, several WrestleMania victors should expect to come back down to earth for the betterment of a feud or a fellow wrestler.

A hot Raw on Monday night gave strong hints toward several rivalries that will either develop or continue into post-WrestleMania season. It has become standard practice for WrestleMania winners to follow up with a loss and vice versa.

In fact, last year's Extreme Rules card saw four winners from WrestleMania suffer a defeat.

Expect more of the same in 2014, mostly to further a strong crop of current feuds. Even-Steven booking has never proves to be a successful method, but it is never used (or abused) more frequently than the pay-per-view following WrestleMania.

The Shield

The Shield scored an impressive squash victory at WrestleMania XXX and has now inherited a feud against the Authority.

After Raw, Roman Reigns tweeted the following to Triple H, per Wrestling Inc.com:

"

@TripleH Kings don't win wars, Soldiers do. Watch your back Hunter because no one else will! #FallofTheKing

"

With Evolution seemingly back intact, they'll need a win to establish themselves. It's hard to see the Triple H character losing back-to-back pay-per-view matches.

Given all that has gone wrong for the Authority as of late, it's almost necessary for the stable to gain a victory in order to remain relevant.

The Shield remains one of the hottest acts in WWE, and now that it's babyface, fans will be doubly affected in the event of a loss. As things stand, any scenario that will pit the Authority against the Shield has a Shield loss written all over it.

AJ Lee

AJ Lee dropped the Divas championship, in shocking fashion, to upstart Paige. Prior to her loss, Lee had been gloating of a WrestleMania XXX win and a near-300-day reign as Divas champion.

There have long since been rumbles about Paige—a child prodigy-turned-WWE Diva—and now that she has been called up, WWE figures to invest in her future.

Once Lee exercises her obligatory rematch clause, Lee and Paige should have great matches. The on-paper talents of these two Divas suggest that a rematch should be saved for pay-per-view.

A PPV win for Paige will legitimize her as champion after a quick win over Lee that is sure to be dismissed as a fluke by the former Divas champion.

Cesaro

With a very crowded WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture, Cesaro will be kept at bay for the time being. As he works his way up, his ongoing feud with Jack Swagger will elevate both men.

The fact that Swagger is feuding with Cesaro alone should be considered a victory, as Cesaro is coming off an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win.

I fully expect the feud to culminate in a tag team match at some point, with both Paul Heyman and Zeb Colter teaming with their clients.

If the Cesaro-Swagger feud is going to be a long-term encounter, it would make sense for Swagger to get the initial win, mainly because he needs it more.

John Cena

Bray Wyatt and John Cena will continue their feud following the Wyatt Family win on Raw. What was even more telling was Cena retreating to the back, as WWE continues to play off his uncharacteristic fear of Wyatt.

Wyatt remains a popular character, but a second loss to Cena will render him a mere myth that Cena should never have feared in the first place.

The WrestleMania match between the two could have gone either way, which is a testament to a very well-done buildup.

The ebb and flow of the feud calls for a Wyatt win at Extreme Rules—likely with some help in the midst of a stipulated match.

Brock Lesnar

With Batista, Orton and Triple H currently wrapped up with the Shield, the No. 1 contender remains a mystery.

Regardless of their Shield feud, the best case can be made for Lesnar, who infamously ended Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania XXX.

Should Lesnar face off against Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, he would surprisingly walk in as an underdog from a non-storyline standpoint.

Bryan just won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, ushering in a new era, and Lesnar is a part-timer.

A feud against Lesnar would allow Bryan to retain the underdog status that makes him popular. A win could be the most meaningful one of his entire tenure.

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